“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!” -Luke 2:14 (ESV)
“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.” John 14:27 (ESV)
We can reliably say that Christ’s mission on earth was to bring peace. But, not the peace of the world which is little more than a brief cease fire. Our first verse is most often heard and sung from the King James Version – “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.” Luke 2:14 (KJV) The world has long embraced this as if God was promising peace on earth out of His good will toward all people. But, the angel’s message to the shepherds promised Peace among those with whom He is pleased. "Without faith it is impossible to please God " Hebrews 11:6 (ESV). So, the angel did not promise to bring peace to all on the earth. It is offered to all but what brings us God’s peace is faith in God. Jesus does not offer the peace of the world, as our second verse informs us, but the peace that came with Jesus when he was born in Bethlehem. So Paul prays, “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing” Romans 15:13 (ESV). Rejoice today that God has given us peace with Him.
# # #
No comments:
Post a Comment
We do appreciate your honest comments, thank you. However we do not permit links or sales offer pitches of any kind in the comments. Comments with links and offers will not be approved and will be removed. Thank you.